Lead investigator opens up about Kevin Collins case

San Francisco investigators are continuing to pursue new leads in the case of Kevin Collins, the 10-year-old boy that disappeared from the Haight in 1984. Tuesday, San Francisco police and the FBI searched a home near the location Collins was last seen.

Inspector Joe Toomey says the person of interest who lived in the house which was searched on Wednesday is the strongest suspect police have had in the Collins case. The man, whose first name was Kelley, has since died, but Toomey would not reveal his last name, saying the case is still under investigation.

Toomey also refused to comment on information ABC7 News learned from an independent source that homicide investigators recently went to Canada to interview the former roommate of the man who they believe may have been responsible for Kevin's disappearance.

Jack Chow roomed with Kelly in the house in the Haight Ashbury in 1984 when Collins vanished.

ABC7 News was that told investigators traveled to Whistler, British Columbia where Chow retired. The source says he told them he knew nothing about Kelly's possible involvement in the boy's abduction, nor did his former partner ever exhibit any interest in pedophilia. But we're told that police are now trying to find a car that the two once owned that may contain evidence linking Kelly to the case.

Tuesday, police and the FBI searched the house where they lived on Masonic Avenue. They were looking for evidence or possibly Kevin's remains.

The house is directly across the street from Kevin's old school. It had been searched before when Kelly was questioned six days after Kevin's disappearance, but police did not search the backyard or the basement. This time, investigators brought in two cadaver dogs, which sniffed around the basement.

"One dog hit a particular spot, the dog was taken out, a period of time went by and a second dog was sent in and he hit at the same public spot," Toomey said.

The bones recovered from the house are believed to be from an animal but are being sent to a state lab for testing. Regardless of the outcome of the tests, investigators believe they are on the right track.